The
Mediterranean Diet,
as inscribed by UNESCO
in the List of Intangible Heritage

2014

Mediterranean
Agronomic Institute of Chania

The Mediterranean Diet

When
talking about the Mediterranean Diet, emphasis is often placed on the actual
food consumed by people who live in Mediterranean countries. This emphasis is
perhaps misdirected: the Mediterranean Diet should be seen as a lifestyle, not
a diet in its literal sense:

“The
Mediterranean Diet – derived from the Greek word díaita, way of life – is the
set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions, ranging from the landscape
to the table, which in the Mediterranean basin concerns the crops, harvesting,
picking, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and
particularly sharing and consuming the cuisine. It is at the table that the
spoken word plays a major role in describing, transmitting, enjoying and
celebrating the element.” (UNESCO)

Therefore,
safeguarding the Mediterranean Diet in modern times is not based on the
safeguarding of specific recipes; it stems from the rapid breakdown of a
changing social fabric which once helped to safeguard the continuity of a
lifestyle passed on from one generation to another, making it difficult to pass
on this knowledge to future generations. Without a community base, there would
be no ‘Mediterranean diet’; it would simply be called 'Mediterranean food'. The
food of the Mediterranean is also found in other parts of the world, and can
easily be copied, but this is not true about the lifestyle - it is actually the
way of life (δίαιτα) that UNESCO wants to protect as Intangible Heritage under
the general title of the Mediterranean Diet.

Origins

The
origins of the phrase "Mediterranean Diet" are founded in Ancel Keys'
well known 1960s study about the food habits of various Mediterranean people,
which took place not too long after the devastation caused by World War II when
many European countries were still underdeveloped, people lived on the farm,
and there were many food shortages. Their food habits, which constitute the
Mediterranean Diet, were regarded as healthy due to the low incidences of
chronic diseases, such as heart disease and high cholesterol. Additionally,
high life-expectancy rates existed among populations who consumed a traditional
Mediterranean diet. Therefore, the Mediterranean diet gained much recognition
and worldwide interest since the period after the original study, as a model
for healthful eating.

Seen in the old town of Hania, outside a taverna.

Ancel
Keys' Mediterranean Diet pyramid is based on the healthy eating and lifestyle
habits of the people living in southern Italy and the Greek islands, notably
Crete, in the early 1960s.

A
modern Greek meal is like taking a trip through Greece's history. Food names,
cooking methods and basic ingredients have changed little over time. Bread,
olive oil and wine have constituted the triptych of the Greek diet for many
centuries, just as they do today. The first cookbook was written by the Greek
food gourmet, Archestratos in 330 BC, which suggests that food and cooking has
always been of great importance and significance in Greek society, which
remains true even today.

The Mediterranean Diet as a lifestyle

Food
events in the Mediterranean are an integral part of the Mediterranean people’s
socialization; they are a perfect display of the Mediterranean lifestyle. They
invariably involve a group of people who all play their own role in ensuring
that a seasonal food event takes place according to plan. From the soil to the
plate, each stage in the process is followed. Omitting any stage can sometimes
be the cause of misunderstanding, although it is possible to alter a stage to
suit the conditions. The alterations to such seasonal activities are how
traditions are formed over time in each of the individual communities involved.
The Mediterranean Diet is, therefore, not limited to terrain or particular food
products: it is a shared understanding of the continuity of traditional values
associated with eating patterns.Every different Mediterranean country
has its own rituals and traditions associated with food, so there is no single
diet. It is a coincidence that similar food items are often used, although they
are combined in different ways according to many factors, such as one's
locality, religion, available seasonal produce, customs, etc.

Many
of the lifestyle events involved in the Mediterranean Diet are one-off
occasions. They cannot be repeated due to their seasonal nature, and therefore
their results will be lost for the year if they are not conducted accordingly.
When things don't go to plan, there is always a Plan B to follow, so that the
ritual's offering will not go wasted. The Mediterranean lifestyle revolves
around the same seasonal activities that, at any given moment, are being done
by different people at exactly the same time, and this is what is so special
about the Mediterranean Diet: this is in fact the Intangible Heritage that
UNESCO wants to protect under its label. It is not just the food, but
the way of life that the food revolves around which needs to be
protected.

The Mediterranean Diet in food security

In
modern times, there is a great need to protect the Mediterranean Diet, due to
the fact that it is now under threat from the forces of the globalisation and
internationalisation of lifestyles. These movements cannot be prevented, nor is
it desirable to stop them from taking place. But they are the main reason why
the farming populations of Mediterranean countries are gradually being reduced,
hence the reason why the Mediterranean people are losing contact with the land
as they become more urbanised. These events are also accompanied by an
increasingly homogenized and globalised food production system that disconnects
food from its natural landscape.

It should therefore be
seen as a vital goal to promote the Mediterranean Diet in its place of origin
(i.e. in the countries of the Mediterranean basin) in the framework of a
lifestyle. Our lives are becoming interconnected, and we are merging in many
ways, but there are some things that will keep us distinct, and they are to be
treasured, for that is where our sense of uniqueness comes from. The aim of the
Mediterranean Diet newsletter, in conjunction with the Mediterranean Diet
website, is to initiate discussion into how to maintain and preserve this
unique identity.

In the process of being editeds

Intangible Heritage - UNESCO

Upon
the completion of negotiation rounds headed by the Ministry of Rural
Development and Food of the Hellenic Republic, Greece has been assigned the
coordinating role of the Network of the seven Member Countries subscribed to
the Mediterranean Diet in UNESCO's representative list of Intangible Cultural
Heritage, from 1 May 2014 to 30 April 2015. At an intergovernmental meeting
held in Agros, Cyprus, on 28-29 April 2014, which was attended by the National
Committee of UNESCO, the proposal of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food
of the Hellenic Republic to undertake the coordination of the Network was
adopted. November 16 has been set as the Flagship Day to celebrate the
Mediterranean Diet.

This
effort of the Greek government and specifically the Ministries of Rural
Development & Food, and Culture & Sport, regarding the need for a
coordination tool, was launched in 2011, immediately after the recognition by
UNESCO of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural Heritage, following the
submission of a portfolio to the UNESCO Committee. On the Greek side, Koroni in
Messinia was chosen as the flagship of the Community, an area rich in
agricultural products such as olive oil, olives, wine, raisins, figs, a large
variety of vegetables, herbs and aromatic plants. The Member Countries and
Emblematic Communities of the Mediterranean Diet as Intangible Cultural
Heritage are Koroni (Greece), Brač and Hvar (Croatia), Agros (Cyprus),
Cilento (Italy), Chefchaouen (Morocco), Tavira
(Portugal) and Soria (Spain).

The
Ministry has assigned, as the coordination point, the Mediterranean Agronomic
Institute of Chania (MAICh/CIHEAM), which has the necessary scientific and
research expertise to undertake joint actions and initiatives, both to preserve
and disseminate the values of the Mediterranean Diet.

If the Mediterranean Diet is seen as just a pyramid of a suggested diet regime, then we are only looking at the food and not the lifestyle. The significance of the Mediterranean Diet includes so much more than just the food.

Very interesting discussion of the way the "Mediterranean diet" is more than just a part of the "Mediterranean lifestyle"; I'd never heard that "diata" could mean "lifestyle" as well as "diet" and so had always considered the two phrases separate, if related, things.